We've probably all done it at least once in our lives: pulled up to a stop light and the guy next to you revs his engine. You look over and check out his little car, with its thin-line whitewall tires and its vintage stainless steel trim running down the side of the car and you think, "Sure, no problem! I'll dust him off when the light turns green."

2/7A lot of motor got squeezed into this engine compartment! Roadster Shop shoehorned a 520-inch Jon Kaase Boss Nine into the space, backing it up to a TREMEC Magnum T56 transmission. The motor is topped with a Kaase-stacked injection system. One of many smart ideas employed on this car are how the tanks (radiator overflow and power steering) are incorporated into the inner fender structure.

So when the light begins to change, and just as you're starting to lift off your brake, you can see he's already leaving, and out of the corner of your eye you see his hood and the rest of his car lifting up as he launches and then disappears way out in front of you. You fell for it: one of the oldest tricks in the book. A wolf in sheep's clothing. A true sleeper.

Tim Bumgarner, out of Richfield, Minnesota, could probably run this scenario out dozens of times as he owns what could easily be described as the perfect sleeper. At first glance you'd never know what was under the hood, and you certainly couldn't tell his 1963 Fairlane was sitting on a performance chassis, but that's the point of a sleeper.

Built over a year and a half at Roadster Shop in Mundelein, Illinois, Tim's Fairlane got the total treatment, starting with one of Roadster Shop's Fast Track chassis. Hand fabricated and made from 10-gauge boxed steel, the sturdy chassis is the base upon which performance is the keyword. A Fast Track chassis is under every muscle car Roadster Shops builds, and they've proven their design again and again on the Autocross tracks across the country.

Tim's ride incorporates the boxed frame plus an independent suspension system on both the front and rear. The front is controlled with Afco double-adjustable shocks with Afco 550 springs, Roadster Shop–modified C6 spindles, and a 1-1/4-inch splined sway bar of their own design. The rear uses the same size splined sway bar and another set of Afco shocks, but set up with Afco 450 springs.

3/7

Performance brakes come in the way of 13-inch Wilwood discs on each corner, which utilize four-piston calipers in the rear and six-piston units up front. The wheels, which are a large part of this car's "sleeper" mentality, are actually custom 18x8 billet wheels made by Greening Auto Company. The CNC-milled aluminum centerpiece to the wheel is milled to look like an era-correct Ford steelie and carved to accept a milled faux hubcap, Ford logo included. The "cap", designed on the computer, bolts up to the wheel's centerpiece, which is welded to the wheel's hoop. The centerpiece and hoop are painted white, as is the ring around the cap's Ford lettering, so the only thing left shiny is the part of the wheel that is supposed to look like a hubcap. The wheels are wrapped in Yokohama Advan S4 225/40-18 fronts and 245/45-18 rears.

Once the chassis was complete, it was time to set the Fairlane body on it. Some of the flooring had to be removed to make it work, and wheel tubs were added out back for wheel clearance. The body itself wasn't in too bad of shape, though the lower section of the rear quarters needed replacing, and there was some custom fabrication done with the taillight area as well as the hood (a large but flat bulge was added in order to fit the engine).

The engine itself is a sight to behold. A Jon Kaase Boss Nine 429, the motor's displacement was bumped to 520 inches and features a Kaase Boss Nine stacked injection system and Roadster Shop–built stainless steel headers and exhaust system. Backed to a TREMEC Magnum T56 transmission via a Quick Time bellhousing, the big V-8 squeezes out every inch of the engine compartment in the Fairlane. And because of that, some parts and pieces had to find a new home, including the radiator overflow and power steering tank, which were cleverly made part of the inner fender structure—the latter topped off with vintage FoMoCo stickers.

4/7Greening Auto Company custom-milled these 18x8 aluminum wheels to appear like they were vintage Ford steelies. The CNC’d “hubcap” attaches to the wheel’s centersection from behind, and the rest of the wheel is painted white to sell the stock appearance. They’re shod in Yokohama Advan S4 rubber.

Roadster Shop also painted the car a vintage Corinthian White color, and changed the original blue interior color scheme to a dove gray and white combo. Custom Interiors by Vos in Lansing, Illinois, created the car's leather innards, which included the headliner as well as the custom bucket seats. Classic Instruments gauges were used in the stock-appearing dash, and the whole car was wired by Roadster Shop. Helping add to the car's "Clark Kent" appearance are the 260 V-8 badges located on the front fenders near the headlights. But, if you add the two badges together, you get 520, which is the displacement of the motor, so they're technically correct!

Tim won a Best Ford in a Ford award at a recent Goodguys Columbus event, but there were probably a few people who walked right past the Fairlane without taking a closer look at it. But for those who did, they were pleasantly surprised. A subtle look is a lot harder to achieve than an in-your-face hot rod and, at first glance, Tim's Fairlane is about as plain looking as you can get. But, then again, that's the whole idea behind driving a sleeper!